Union Man Admits Bribing Postal Workers To Steal Credit Cards: AG

UNION, NJ — A Union man admitted to bribing mail carriers to steal credit cards from the mail, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Olagoke Araromi, 22, of Union pleaded guilty to a three-count information charging him with bribery of U.S. Postal Service mail carriers, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, Carpenito said.

From July 2017 to May 2018, Araromi and and Moussa Dagno, 24, of Harrison bribed USPS employees with cash to remove envelopes containing credit cards from the mail, according to documents filed in this case and statements made in court.

Text messages show Araromi asking USPS employees to look for and take credit cards issued by certain banks that he preferred, promising to pay them for taking as many credit cards as possible, and arranging meetings to pick up the stolen credit cards, according to the report.

Then Araromi and Dagno used the stolen credit cards to make unauthorized purchases of high-end electronics and clothing, such as Apple MacBook Pro devices and other Apple products, throughout New Jersey and New York from July 2017 to February 2018, according to the report.

Video and photos from surveillance recordings show the men making he purchases at the stores, according to the report.

Authorities found six laptops and a smartphone all of which had been purchased with the stolen credit cards at the Harrison home shared by Araromi and Dagno.

Former mail carriers Zenobia Gilmer, Ayesha Troztz and Kyanne Costley, who had delivery routes in Mt. Arlington, East Orange and Elizabeth; and Jennel Williams, who formerly worked as a clerk in the Newark Main Post Office all admitted to stealing credit cards from the mail and delivering them to Araromi or Dagno in exchange for payments, and all are awaiting sentencing, Carpenito said.

Araromi faces a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison on the bribery charge; a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison on the bank fraud charge; and a mandatory sentence of two years in prison on the aggravated identity theft charge.

Sentencing is currently scheduled for Sept. 9.

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